Temporal, spatial and geochemical evolution of late Cenozoic post-subduction magmatism in central and eastern Anatolia, Turkey

Abstract

Indentation of the Arabian platform into the eastern domain of the Anatolide-Tauride Block (ATB) led to sub-horizontal rupture and break-off of the Arabian segment of the subducting southern Neotethyan oceanic slab beneath ATB in the late Cenozoic. Although this rupture has been well-defined by seismic tomography and numerical modeling, its relationship with concomitant magmatism in central and eastern Anatolia has not been firmly demonstrated. To address this issue, we compiled, integrated and interpreted an extensive database of previously-published age and geochemical data. Our analysis shows that late Cenozoic magmatism in both eastern and central Anatolia was nearly continuous over a distance of ~1000 km, and is herein named the Eastern Anatolian Magmatic Belt. Magmatism initiated at 23 Ma in response to rupturing of the north-dipping subducting oceanic slab below eastern Anatolia and upwelling of hot asthenospheric mantle. The onset of initial rupture-related magmatism is ~12 Ma older than previously proposed. The magmatic belt migrated westward from eastern Anatolia (23-15 Ma) to central Anatolia (12 Ma-present) and is a proxy for the westward progression of the slab rupture and related asthenospheric infiltration. Magmatism generated from the shallow melting of the previously-metasomatized Anatolian subcontinental lithospheric mantle and asthenosphere by decompression due to the impingement of the Arabian sub-slab asthenospheric mantle. In eastern Anatolia, slab-rupture magmatism was followed by a second phase of magmatism that formed in response to destabilization and convective removal of the thick Anatolian lithospheric root (13 Ma-present). This new magmatic model emphasizes that the geochemical signature of post-subduction magmatism, as recorded by primitive basalts that constantly evolved through time and space. Magmatic sources recorded the shifting of mantle melt source domains that were controlled by slab segmentation and induced mantle flow.